Hookah Bowl

ABSTRACT

The present invention includes a hookah bowl with structurally integrated means for retaining foil upon the hookah bowl. The means may include recesses or protrusions. When foil is positioned on the bowl and intercalated therein, the foil is more stably retained on the hookah bowl.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of hookahs and more specifically to the field of hookah component design.

BACKGROUND

Of the many proud traditions of Ottoman culture, few have achieved the world-wide fame of hookah smoking. Once confined to the Middle East and Near East regions, the hookah's notoriety was invigorated by Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and the stream of curious Westerners which followed thereafter. Painters, such as Eugene Delacroix and Jean-Leon Gerome, when depicting Oriental styles typically included a hookah as a symbol of the depicted culture. The hookah was elevated from a regional curiosity to a universal symbol of sophistication.

The hookah, which has maintained a constant popularity in the Middle East, presently enjoys in American culture a unique, niched function. Hookah smoking combines community and relaxation into a single event. Rarely does one witness a group smokers crowded about a single cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Though hookahs are often designed with a single smoke outlet; the presence of multiple hoses, each capable of simultaneous use, emanating from a single smoking instrument is unique to the hookah. Multiple hose hookahs form the centerpieces of hookah clubs in which hookah smokers gather to unwind and converse with other community members. A hookah combines fashion, art, and function into a single device.

A basic hookah includes a base, a stem, at least one hose with a mouthpiece, and a bowl. The hookah bowl holds the hookah tobacco, frequently “massell.” Massell is a mixture of tobacco, molasses, and often a flavor or fruit extract. The molasses and fruit extract add a substantial amount of moisture to the massell that is missing in conventional tobacco. This added moisture makes massell more sensitive to the elements relative to conventional tobacco; prolonged exposure to air evaporates much of the moisture of massell and reduces its flavor. When properly protected, massell allows a smoker a more recreational, flavored smoke than the tobacco of cigars, cigarettes, pipes, and the like. An experienced hookah smoker will know to loosely distribute massell into a pile within the hookah bowl to allow heat to evenly circulate through the pile.

The heat that ignites the massell derives from coals positioned above the hookah bowl. The coals and massell preferably never contact one to the other. A common method of placing coals proximate to the massell involves spreading a foil upon the top of a hookah bowl, punching holes in the foil, and then placing the coals onto the foil. The heat from the lighted coals travels through the holes in the foil to ignite portions of the massell. Particulates from the massell travel in the smoke created by the ignition down through the hookah bowl into the hookah pipe.

The hookah stem is the body of a hookah and is usually fabricated from brass, tin, or stainless steel. The stem transports the massell smoke from the bowl to the hookah base, which is a cavern containing water. The base of the hookah is typically fabricated of glass or plastic and tends to be the most expressive portion of the hookah, ranging from translucent to wildly-colored. Within the cavern of the hookah base, the massell smoke is cooled by the water within. The cooled massell smoke then returns to the stem, though not through the same entrance by which the massell smoke enters the base. From the stem, the massell smoke travels through the hose and out of the mouthpiece.

There are presently two prominent versions of hookah structures: the Lebanese style and the Egyptian style. Although the aficionado will explain that there are many differences between the two styles, the practical layman would quickly note the obvious difference: the connection point between the stem and the hookah bowl. The Egyptian style hookah pipe tapers upward into what is generally referred to as a male connection. The Egyptian style hookah bowl includes a female connection which receives the pipe's male connection. In the Lebanese style hookah the bowl has the tapered male connection and the pipe has the female connection to accept the Lebanese style hookah bowl. In both styles, to allow a more airtight connection a collar is generally added to fit around the male connection.

Hookah users typically have foil, or some other compressible sheet material, handy. After tobacco is placed within the hookah bowl, the foil is wrapped over the top portion of the hookah bowl and some of the sidewall as well. The user presses the foil into place and trusts that the foil will stay in position. Examples of this type of placement can be found in U.S. Published Patent Applications No. 2012/0067357; 2011/0186060; 2010/0083973; and US2006/0207621. However, none of these references includes a suitable, persistent means of retaining the foil about the hookah bowl.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a hookah bowl and hookah bowl system. The hookah bowl includes a body and an outer wall. The body includes a bay formed by a tobacco platform and peripheral wall around the platform. One or more dry smoke apertures on the tobacco platform conduct smoke from the bay to a base aperture terminus adapted to connect to a hookah stem.

The outer wall includes one or more recesses inscribed therein in a recess array. The recesses can be formed directly into the outer wall or may be formed between synchronized protrusions. The preferred recess arrays are pitched to form a spiral along the outer wall. Other recess arrays may be level along the outer wall. Pitched recess arrays directly inscribed in the outer wall preferably extend at least about the whole of the outer wall, and may include multiple coils or some other fraction greater than one.

The recess arrays permit a malleable sheet of foil or other like material to be placed above the bay and about the outer wall. A user may then twist the sheet about the outer wall to intercalate the sheet into the outer wall. The malleable sheet as it twists within the recess bunches within it and binds to the outer wall. A user may place coals and other objects on the top of the sheet stably and securely without an additional fastening mechanism.

These aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive. Furthermore, some features may apply to certain versions of the invention, but not others. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description, and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to a Lebanese style hookah bowl.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 6 is a revealed, side view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 7 is a cutaway, side view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to an Egyptian style hookah bowl.

FIG. 8 is a cutaway, side view of an embodiment of the hookah bowl of the present invention applied to a Lebanese style hookah bowl.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIGS. 1, and 4 a basic embodiment of a hookah bowl 100 of the present invention is shown. The hookah bowl 100 includes a body 102 that includes a tobacco platform 106 and a raised peripheral wall 104. The tobacco platform 106 is the portion of the hookah bowl 100 upon which tobacco rests. The raised peripheral wall 104 extends above the tobacco platform 106 to permit a user to load the hookah bowl 100 with a substantial amount of loose tobacco, e.g. massell. The body, platform, and raised peripheral wall need not differ from preexisting hookah bowls except as otherwise necessitated by the present invention.

The purpose of the raised platform in a hookah bowl is to permit a malleable sheet material (not shown) to be placed about the body 102, covering the tobacco platform 106 at about the apex, that is to say the highest point, of the peripheral wall 104. Generally, the sheet is not a part of the hookah bowl and consists of some readily available, disposable material. The preferred material among hookah users is aluminum or tin foil. Such a sheet is preferred because it includes the pliability to wrap about the hookah bowl, possesses the malleability to be compressed on the hookah bowl and maintain the new shape, and is structurally self-supporting and includes strength permitting the sheet stretched above the tobacco platform to bear coals for igniting the tobacco of the tobacco platform. Then a user typically punches holes in the coal-bearing portion of the sheet to permit the heat to more effectively seep downward. Tin and aluminum also permit stable puncturing, that is to say, puncturing wherein the holes formed closely resemble the object used to puncture the foil without substantial concerns of ripping or tearing. For example, holes punctured with a pencil tend to dimensionally resemble the cylindrical puncture end of the pencil. If a non-malleable material such as cloth were used, a puncturing instrument would generally tear the cloth.

The malleability of the types of sheets frequently used with hookah bowls are fairly stable, but are capable of shifting due to the symmetry associated with smooth hookah bowl outer surfaces. In other words, the smoothness of hookah bowl surfaces do not provide any objects for the sheet to grasp. If such an object were present on a hookah surface, there would be tendency for the malleable sheet to tear as the object would cut through the foil like a knife. For example, an array of spires might be used, however, these spires would puncture the sheet in a manner that prevents effective contouring of the sheet about the hookah bowl. Although a sheet may be positioned about a hookah bowl such that the sheet may simply be pressed downward over discrete object, for example spires, to create a shelf capable of supporting hookah coals, the sheet will not likely create a firm attachment to the hookah bowl. The sheet is not simply for the placement of hookah coals, but also serves to create a sealed channel for the transmission of heat from above the sheet to the tobacco platform below the sheet and its retention therein. A sheet that does not substantially adhere to the sides of the hookah bowl therefore fails to perform in an ideal state.

A malleable sheet best adheres to a hookah bowl when it is twisted about the hookah bowl. Twisting a malleable sheet about a hookah bowl with discrete objects one the hookah bowl side would serve only to rip a twisted sheet during the twisting process. Instead, the object should be linear with exaggerated dimensions in the direction of the twist. For hookah bowls, the direction of the twist would be radially about the outside surface of the body. As shown in FIG. 1, a unitary, linear recess 110 with a nonzero pitch is shown circumscribed about the hookah body 102. The recess 110 is linear in that it includes excludes exaggerated lateral dimensions. The recess 110 is unitary in that the recess consists of a single canyon in the body 102 of the hookah bowl 100. The pitch of the recess 110 in nonzero in that it includes elevation in the longitudinal direction of the hookah bowl 100. The pitch permits a single recess to be circumscribed in the hookah body 102 that is longer than the circumference of the hookah bowl body 102. FIG. 1 exhibits the preferred recess of the present invention. The continuous nature of the preferred recess deforms a malleable sheet radially wrapped about the hookah bowl into a cover in the shape of a hookah bowl with a threaded interior that matches the recesses of the hookah bowl. The nature of the malleable sheet is such that the deformation occurs both linearly within the recess and against the sidewalls of the recess to form a threading with close-fit dimensional relationship to the recess. Furthermore, the continuous nature of the threading creates ‘bunching’ in only one area of the recess, the end of the recess in the direction of the twist.

Bunching is both a problem and a feature of the present invention. When the malleable sheet is twisted, the sheet will cling to the hookah bowl because of the creation of the outward force into the walls of the recess during the twisting process; however, another force against the direction of the twist occurs as the malleable sheet is pressed into the end of the recess. This force at the end of the recess creates the bunching that results in a bulbous threaded end point of the newly-created thread. Although the bulbous end portion is particularly effective at ensuring that sheet clings to the bowl, these bulbous portions also resist efforts by the user to dislodge the sheet when the user is finished with the sheet—often tearing the sheet and requiring the user to pick out leavings of the sheet in the recess. It will generally be the case that simply the creation of the threads into the sheet will be sufficient to retain the sheet upon the hookah bowl 100; however, when greater adhesion is desired, multiple linear recesses 110 may be used as is shown in FIG. 2.

The recesses 110 shown in FIG. 2 are two in number and include a synchronized pitch. The present invention need not be tied to any particular number of recesses, or protrusions (as discussed later), and the present invention may be discussed in terms of recess groups, which means one or more recesses acting to engage a malleable sheet. The synchronized recesses 110 of FIG. 2 include a matching pitch such that the sheet may be smoothly adhered to the hookah bowl 100. When wrapped about a hookah bowl 100, sheet portions deformed by the recesses will often longitudinally move the sheet up and down the bowl; when the recesses are not synchronized, tension stresses will begin to adversely affect the sheet. Pitches need not be precisely matched to be synchronized, merely enough to minimize the effects of tension forces upon the sheet.

As FIG. 3 shows the recesses 110 of the recess group need not be unitary, and may circumscribe less than the entirety of the circumference of the hookah bowl body 102. The recess group of the embodiment of FIG. 3 includes three distinct recesses 110, each pitched and traversing approximately one quarter of the circumference of the hookah bowl body 102. When the term circumscribe is used herein, it is meant that the recess, or protrusion, travels radially about the outer surface of the hookah bowl and is not meant to imply complete travel about the circumference of the hookah bowl. A recess that circumscribes the entirety of the circumference of the hookah bowl is not necessary, and any recess length that accommodates the angle at which a user commonly twists a sheet about a hookah bowl may be used. Preferably the length of the recesses, or protrusion, is at least an eighth of the circumference of the hookah bowl.

As shown by FIG. 4, recesses 110 need not be pitched. Instead, recesses may be level about the hookah bowl body 102. By level, it is meant that if the recess continued to fully circumscribe a whole of the hookah bowl, then one end portion of the recess would contact another end portion of the same recess. Although spiraling recesses better support the sheet when intercalated within the hookah bowl body 102, in many instances, it will be preferred that level recesses 110 are used because radial actuation of the sheet about a level recess does not move the sheet up or down, longitudinally along the body 102 of the hookah bowl 100. When lateral recesses, or protrusions, are used in the present invention, it is preferred that at least two recesses are used in a recess group. The recesses would have a synchronized and substantially lateral, i.e. nonzero, pitch. As shown by FIG. 4, the hookah bowl 100 of the present invention otherwise includes the features existing in more common hookah bowls. The hookah bowl includes a bay 118 that is formed between the raised peripheral wall 104 and the tobacco platform 106. The final confines of the bay, specifically the roof, would be formed by the addition of the malleable sheet, when present. Smoke from the tobacco bay seeps downward through one or more dry smoke conduits 112 through the hookah bowl body 102 into a base aperture terminus 114. The base aperture terminus 114, in the Lebanese style hookah is the port through which dry smoke collects in the bottom of the hookah bowl before being distributed through an attached hookah stem (not shown) and the stem will be connected thereto. In the Egyptian style hookah, the hookah base aperture terminus 114 is the terminal point of the dry smoke apertures 112 where the dry smoke passes jut prior to exiting the hookah bowl 100, generally this would be on the lower surface of the hookah bowl. A Lebanese style hookah bowl is shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 5-6, the present invention may also comprise protrusions 130 as the intercalation means of the present invention. The principle behind using protrusions as opposed to recesses is substantially the same: linear obstacles, of a particular orientation and shape, exist by which a malleable sheet may be intercalated around to create a sheet shape that conforms to the outer surface of the hookah bowl 100. With protrusions, the malleable sheet forms about the protrusions and within the recesses created by the protrusions. Unless otherwise indicated, references within the present disclosure to recesses will be likewise applicable to protrusions. However, a protrusion group will require at least two synchronized protrusions to form the recess therebetween. Bunching will not be applicable to protrusions, unless an artificial wall is created between the synchronized protrusions.

Viewing FIGS. 7 and 8, the use of recesses 110 and protrusions 130 is relative. More specifically, recesses and protrusions are relative to the general nature of the hookah bowl major surface 140. The major surface 140 is the outer surface of an outer wall 150 of the hookah bowl body 102. The outer wall 150 is that portion of the hookah bowl body 102 that encloses the interior portions of the hookah bowl. The major surface 140 includes those surface portions of the outer wall that are directly adjacent to the protrusions and recesses of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the hookah bowl 100 includes a height, h, that spans the hookah bowl from tip to tip, longitudinally. It is preferred that the recesses and protrusions are positioned on the upper portion of the hookah bowl body 102. Generally, the closer the foil may be placed to the upper apex of the hookah bowl body, the better the foil may cling to the hookah bowl. It is preferred that the protrusions and recesses are placed above at least the upper half of the hookah bowl body, and more preferably adjacent to the hookah bay 118 wherein at some portion extends upon the peripheral wall 104.

The hookah bowl body 102 includes a lower portion that is adapted to accept a hookah stem connection. There are at least three principle affixation means for a hookah bowl to attach to a hookah stem. For Egyptian hookahs, the outer wall 150 includes an outer surface that is adapted to affix to the interior portion of the upper portion of a hookah stem, or mating grommet positioned therebetween. The outer surface may be dimensioned to permit an interference or close-fit, employ threading, pressure fitting, temporary adhesive, etc. For Lebanese hookahs, the outer wall 150 includes an inner surface that is adapted to affix to the outer portion of the upper portion of a hookah stem, or mating grommet positioned therebetween. The inner surface may be dimensioned to permit an interference or close-fit, employ threading, pressure fitting, temporary adhesive, etc. . . . . Furthermore, the lowest portion of the hookah bowl body 102 may include a means for tip-to-tip connection, which in its simplest form may simply be a flat bottom that permits the bowl to sit upon a hookah stem (or stem plate).

Returning to FIGS. 5-6, the present invention also applies to a system 200 that includes the hookah bowl 100 of the present invention and the malleable sheet 180. The hookah bowl 100 may include either protrusion or recessed (or both) embodiments. The sheet 180 is a malleable, pliable material that is substantially planar and fits about the hookah bowl 100 in the traditional fashion. When the sheet 180 is pressed against the hookah bowl body 102, the sheet deforms within the recesses either beneath the major surface of the outer wall of the hookah body 102 outer surface.

The recesses of the present invention may be created by means of positive or negative routing. By positive routing, it is meant that a rotating bit creates a recess by the bits rotation about a stationary hookah bowl. By negative routing it is meant that a hookah bowl may be rotated and longitudinally moved about a stationary, but rotating bit. The protrusions of the present invention may be created by simple injection molding.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hookah bowl comprising: a hookah bowl body defining a bay bounded by a tobacco platform and a raised peripheral wall circumscribing said platform, a base aperture terminus, distally positioned from said bay and a dry smoke aperture positioned within said bowl body to transmit smoke from said bay to said base aperture terminus; and an outer wall, on said body, having a major surface and defining a pitched recess array circumscribing at least one-fourth of said outer wall.
 2. The hookah bowl of claim 1 wherein said recess array is positioned on an upper half of said outer wall height.
 3. The hookah bowl of claim 2 wherein said recess array is positioned above said platform.
 4. The hookah bowl of claim 3 wherein said recess array major surface is substantially constant between said recess array and an apex of said outer wall.
 5. The hookah bowl of claim 1 wherein said recess array consists of a unitary recess.
 6. The hookah bowl of claim 5 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least half of said outer wall.
 7. The hookah bowl of claim 6 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least a whole of said outer wall.
 8. The hookah bowl of claim 7 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least said outer wall at least twice.
 9. The hookah bowl of claim 1 wherein said recess array includes a recess group of multiple recesses.
 10. The hookah bowl of claim 9 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes at least half of said outer wall.
 11. The hookah bowl of claim 10 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes at least a whole of said outer wall.
 12. The hookah bowl of claim 11 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes said outer wall at least twice.
 13. A hookah bowl comprising: a hookah bowl body defining a bay bounded by a tobacco platform and a raised peripheral wall circumscribing said platform, a base aperture terminus, distally positioned from said bay and a dry smoke aperture positioned within said bowl body to transmit smoke from said bay to said base aperture terminus; and an outer wall, on said body, having a major surface and defining a pitched protrusion array of synchronized protrusions defining a recess array therebetween circumscribing at least one-fourth of said outer wall.
 14. The hookah bowl of claim 13 wherein said recess array is positioned on an upper half of said outer wall height.
 15. The hookah bowl of claim 14 wherein said recess array is positioned above said platform.
 16. The hookah bowl of claim 15 wherein said recess array major surface is substantially constant between said recess array and an apex of said outer wall.
 17. The hookah bowl of claim 13 wherein said recess array consists of a unitary recess.
 18. The hookah bowl of claim 17 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least half of said outer wall.
 19. The hookah bowl of claim 18 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least a whole of said outer wall.
 20. The hookah bowl of claim 19 wherein said unitary recess circumscribes at least said outer wall at least twice.
 21. The hookah bowl of claim 13 wherein said recess array includes a recess group of multiple recesses.
 22. The hookah bowl of claim 21 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes at least half of said outer wall.
 23. The hookah bowl of claim 22 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes at least a whole of said outer wall.
 24. The hookah bowl of claim 23 wherein said recess group collectively circumscribes said whole of said outer wall at least twice.
 25. A hookah bowl comprising: a hookah bowl body defining a bay bounded by a tobacco platform and a raised peripheral wall circumscribing said platform, a base aperture terminus, distally positioned from said bay and a dry smoke aperture positioned within said bowl body to transmit smoke from said bay to said base aperture terminus; and an outer wall, on said body, having a major surface and defining a level recess array circumscribing at least a whole of said outer wall.
 26. The hookah bowl of claim 25 wherein said recess array is positioned on an upper half of said outer wall height.
 27. The hookah bowl of claim 26 wherein said recess array is positioned above said platform.
 28. The hookah bowl of claim 27 wherein said recess array major surface is substantially constant between said recess array and an apex of said outer wall.
 29. The hookah bowl of claim 25 wherein said recess array includes multiple recesses each of which circumscribes at least said whole of said outer wall.
 30. A hookah bowl comprising: a hookah bowl body defining a bay bounded by a tobacco platform and a raised peripheral wall circumscribing said platform, a base aperture terminus, distally positioned from said bay and a dry smoke aperture positioned within said bowl body to transmit smoke from said bay to said base aperture terminus; and an outer wall, on said body, having a major surface and defining a level protrusion array of synchronized protrusions defining a recess array therebetween circumscribing at least half of said outer wall.
 31. The hookah bowl of claim 30 wherein said recess array is positioned on an upper half of said outer wall height.
 32. The hookah bowl of claim 31 wherein said recess array is positioned above said platform.
 33. The hookah bowl of claim 32 wherein said recess array major surface is substantially constant between said recess array and an apex of said outer wall.
 34. The hookah bowl of claim 33 wherein said recess array includes multiple recesses each of which circumscribes at least said whole of said outer wall.
 35. A hookah bowl system comprising: a hookah bowl body defining a bay bounded by a tobacco platform and a raised peripheral wall circumscribing said platform, a base aperture terminus, distally positioned from said bay and a dry smoke aperture positioned within said bowl body to transmit smoke from said bay to said base aperture terminus; an outer wall, on said body, having a major surface and defining a recess array circumscribing at least a whole of said outer wall; and a malleable sheet, dimensioned to cover said bay, and capable of fixed intercalation within said recess.
 36. The hookah bowl system of claim 35 wherein said recess array includes a pitched recess array.
 37. The hookah bowl system of claim 36 wherein said pitched recess array includes multiple recesses.
 38. The hookah bowl system of claim 37 wherein said recess array includes a level recess array.
 39. The hookah bowl system of claim 36 wherein said level recess array includes multiple recesses.
 40. The hookah bowl system of claim 36 wherein said recess array is defined by a protrusion array of synchronized protrusions. 